Membrane modification is one of the most feasible and effective solutions to membrane fouling problem which tenaciously hampers the further augmentation of membrane separation technology. Blending modification with nanoparticles (NPs), owing to the convenience of being incorporated in established membrane production lines, possesses an advantageous viability in practical applications. However, the existing blending strategy suffers from a low utilization efficiency due to NP encasement by membrane matrix. The current study proposed an improved blending modification approach with amphiphilic NPs (aNPs), which were prepared through silanization using 3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSPMA) as coupling agents and ZnO or SiO2 as pristine NPs (pNPs), respectively. The Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses revealed the presence of appropriate organic components in both the ZnO and SiO2 aNPs, which verified the success of the silanization process. As compared with the pristine and conventional pNP-blended membranes, both the ZnO aNP-blended and SiO2 aNP-blended membranes with proper silanization (100% and 200%w/w) achieved a significantly increased blending efficiency with more NPs scattering on the internal and external membrane surfaces under scanning electron microscope observation. This improvement contributed to the increase of membrane hydrophilicity. Nevertheless, an extra dosage of the TMSPMA led to an encasement of NPs, thereby adversely affecting the properties of the resultant membranes. On the basis of all the tests, 100% (w/w) was selected as the optimum TMSPMA dosage for blending modification for both the ZnO and SiO2 types.
Au-supported 13X-type zeolite (Au/13X) was synthesized using a common deposition–precipitation (DP) method with a solution of sodium carbonate as a precipitate agent. Further testing was conducted to test for catalytic oxidation of CO. A study was conducted on the effects of different preparation conditions (i.e., chloroauric acid concentration, solution temperature, pH of solution, and calcinations temperature) on Au/13X for CO oxidation. In respect to the catalytic activity, the relationship between different the preparation conditions and gold particles in 13X zeolite was analyzed using X-ray diffraction, TEM and XPS. The activity of Au/13X catalysts in CO oxidation was dependent on the chloroauric acid concentration. From XRD results, a higher chloroauric acid concentration induced larger gold nanoparticles, which resulted in lower catalytic activity. Results revealed that higher temperatures induced higher Au loading, homogeneous deposit, and smaller gold clusters on the support of 13X, resulting in higher CO activity. Furthermore, a pH of 5 or 6 generated greater amounts of Au loading and smaller Au particles on 13X than at a pH of 8 or 9. This may be a result of an effective exchange between Au(OH)2Cl2- and Au(OH)3Cl- on specific surface sites of zeolite under the pH’s 5 and 6. The sample calcined at 300°C showed the highest activity, which may be due to the sample’s calcined at 200°C inability to decompose completely to metallic gold while the sample calcined at 400°C had larger particles of gold deposited on the support. It can be concluded from this study that Au/13X prepared from a gold solution with an initial chloroauric acid solution concentration of 1.5 × 10-3 mol·L-1 gold solution pH of 6, solution temperature of around 90°C, and a calcination temperature of 300°C provides optimum catalytic activity for CO oxidation. 相似文献